The Pebble brand will disappear altogether once it is bought by Fitbit

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Fitbit will absorb Pebble's software team (Source: Getty)

Emma Haslett

Smartwatch brand Pebble is likely to disappear altogether after its $40m deal with Fitbit goes through, City A.M. understands.

A source close to the company said it had shed all of its workers, including back-office functions such as the communications team - apart from its software team, which will be absorbed by Fitbit once it has been bought.

"This will be the end of the brand in its entirety," the source said. A spokesperson for Fitbit said it was not speculating on rumours at this stage.

In March this year Pebble laid off 40 people, about a quarter of its workforce, with chief executive Eric Migicovsky telling Tech Insider it had raised $26m in debt and equity funding on top of its Kickstarter campaign.

In early 2015 the company smashed crowdfunding records by raising $500,000 for its second smartwatch, the Pebble Time, in just 17 minutes - doubling that after 50 minutes.